Women's History Month: Votes for Women!

 Votes for Women: The Story of Hazel Belle (Farnan) Howell

 “Men, their rights, and nothing more; women, their rights, and nothing less.” Quote by Susan B. Anthony, Women’s Suffrage Activist and Leader. 

 It’s been over one hundred years since women in our nation rallied for the right to vote. A few years ago, I received a call from one of my Utter cousins. She had a box of old photographs and wanted to give them to me.  

 I was thrilled when I found Hazel among the photos. She was dressed in a long skirt and a dark jacket, with a hat on her head. She held a flag. She wore black button-up boots and a white sash emblazoned with “Votes for Women.” It told her story. Here she is in her Suffrage dress. 

Many years ago, Hazel Belle Farnan and her family were friends with my Utter family, who lived in Pierce City, Missouri. From the orphaned box of photographs and the writing on the backs of the pictures, I researched Hazel and found her story. 

She was born in 1899 in Pierce City, Missouri. Her father’s last name was Meador, and her mother’s maiden name was Farnan. Her Farnan family sailed from Ireland to America years before and settled in a small town in Southwest Missouri. Here are photos of Thomas and Nancy Farnan. 

The United States Federal Census for 1900 shows her living with her parents. She was six months old. In 1910, Hazel was living with her Farnan grandparents. She was orphaned at the age of thirteen when her mother died in 1912. Although her grandparents, Thomas and Nancy Farnan, died the next few years, she remained in the Pierce City and Monett area.

I found Hazel’s marriage notice in a 1919 newspaper social section. She lived in Monett, a town about five miles from Pierce City. She married Fred Howell in the local Methodist Church, and they moved to Springfield to raise a family. Fred was a veteran of The Great War (World War 1) and a retired mail carrier. He was also an evangelist singer who sang at area revivals. Hazel and Fred had two boys and a daughter. 

Hazel Farnan Howell died in the Maranatha Manor in Springfield, Missouri, where she suffered from consumption, the old medical term for tuberculosis. She is buried in the Springfield National Cemetery in Springfield, Missouri. She was 88 years old. 

The photograph of Hazel documenting her time and attention to Women’s Suffrage is undated. But it shows her spirit and sweet smile as she once joined the throngs of women wanting to win the right to vote. I’m pleased to know that years ago, she was a friend to my family. I found an extraordinary photo documenting Women’s History in the Ozarks in an orphaned box of old photographs; I'm so lucky! 

This image is in the public domain.